The UFC returns to action this Saturday night after nearly a full month layoff with UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida. UFC 98 marks the first of six UFC events to be held over the next three months, and will feature the light heavyweight title fight between current champion Rashad Evans and challenger Lyoto Machida.
Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida – Rashad Evans will make his first UFC light heavyweight title defense against a fighter that few in the 205 lb. division want to face, Lyoto Machida.
Both Evans and Machida bring and undefeated record into this fight and this title fight is about as close a matchup and you can find. Evans, a strong wrestling, has shown explosive quickness with his striking in recent fights and good knockout power.
Machida’s trademark is his elusiveness and excellent defensive footwork. Machida, more than any other fighter, is an excellent tactician and picks his attack points with precision.
I anticipate that Evans will look to pressure Machida from the start and look to get into close striking range. Letting Machida run free is a recipe for a loss, and Evans will need to work angles against Machida and hope to get him up against the cage or bring him down to the mat. Machida is extremely tough to track down and catch cleaning, but of all Machida’s past opponents, I think Evans has the speed and quickness to pull it off.
Winner: Rashad Evans
Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra – Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes is a fight that, despite the UFC’s best efforts, just doesn’t seem to intrigue most MMA fans. I think as a whole, we’ve had enough of these “bad blood” hyped matches, as the Shamrock vs. Ortiz trilogy left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
Both Serra and Hughes are clearly in the last days of their respective MMA careers and both probably need a victory in this fight more for “legacy” than anything else.
Matt Serra is always dangerous on the feet because he is a fighter who truly lets his hands go without caution, but also possesses good boxing defense. Serra specializes in jiu-jitsu, but once again we most likely won’t see him try to win this fight on the ground.
Matt Hughes’ reputation and place in MMA history is already solidified. Winning a fight against Serra probably won’t do much for Matt Hughes other then hopefully (stress hopefully) get Serra to shut his mouth for a while. Hughes strength is clearly his wrestling with his weakness being the striking game.
I anticipate a timid, methodical, slow start from both fighters and more of a chess match than any real action. I think Hughes takes this fight to the ground and really just concentrates on controlling position to out-point Serra on the scorecards.
Winner: Matt Hughes
Drew McFedries vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam – Xavier “Professor X” Foupa-Pokam makes his UFC debut in what should be a solid, exciting matchup with Drew McFedries. Foupa-Pokam has spent the majority of his career back and forth between Cage Rage events and Pakration style tournaments.
If you haven’t seen Professor X fight yet, you are in for a treat as he brings a very unique, athletic style to the cage. There is no question what Drew McFedries brings to the cage as his power and striking game is well known.
McFedries is coming off two straight losses in the UFC and can’t afford to drop a third as he will most likely be on the chopping block with a loss. Foupa-Pokam is just too fast and quick on his feet for McFedries, and has more than enough skill on the ground to submit McFedries should he get in trouble on the feet.
Winner: Xavier Foupa-Pokam
Dan Miller vs. Chael Sonnen – MMA HQ readers know I’m a big fan of both Dan and Jim Miller, but I think Miller’s undefeated run through the UFC ends in this match against Sonnen.
Dan Miller specializes in his ground game and submission skills, but Chael Sonnen’s wrestling and ground control will be too much for Miller to handle. Sonnen should be able to keep the fight on the feet as long as he wants, and will be able to handle positions on the ground well enough to earn the decision victory.
Winner: Chael Sonnen
Sean Sherk vs. Frank Edgar – Sean Sherk and Frank Edgar should be on an excellent, fast paced fight this Saturday night. While in the past Sherk has been considered a more boring fighter for his wrestling control, his most recent fight with Tyson Griffin showed that Sherk can bring an exciting style to the Octagon.
Sherk battled Tyson Griffin on the feet for a full three rounds at UFC 90 en route to winning a unanimous decision. Frank Edgar, like Griffin and Sherk, has a strong background in wrestling which means we could see another Sherk vs. Griffin style slugfest in this fight. Just like in the Griffin fight, I think Sherk has too much skill and experience for Edgar and should come away with the decision victory.
Winner: Sean Sherk
Brock Larson vs. Chris Wilson – Winner: Brock Larson
Pat Barry vs. Tim Hague – Winner: Pat Barry
Phillipe Nover vs. Kyle Bradley – Winner: Phillipe Nover
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Andre Gusmao – Winner: Andre Gusmao
Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Brandon Wolff – Winner: Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Dave Kaplan vs. George Roop – Winner: George Roop
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bvrasp
R.J. St.Croix
Timbo Slice
DZ
StuDog
Pat Barry fights in the UFC now? lol.
I think the UFC laid another egg with this PPV but did good in a slight effort by offering a $10 discount when purchasing the video game…thanks UFC.
Same PPV story for this one…boring main events and an ultimate fighter loser filled undercard. Nover is good, Krystoff is good but the rest? cmo’n…
The Hughes/Serra fight: I predict after a grappling battle, they both gas by the end of the 1st round and Hughes gets his usual
man-humping decision victory.
As much as I like Machida and Evans, I predict this will be a very, very boring fight. And, unfortunately because of their respective styles, neither of them will walk away from this PPV gaining any more fans. They will both be very evasive and cautious with not much action. I say Machida gets the decision.
It’s a matter of scheduling these styles as co-main and main events, a completely bone-head move, which we have already known for far too long.
live video stream of UFC 98 presser if anyone is interested.
today (may 21 at 4pm EST / 1pm PST )
Where is the link?
my bad
http://www.ufc.com/multicast/
I found it a bit annoying that the press couldnt think of any questions to ask.. i know if it was me id have atleast 10 questions ready in advance with atleast 3 good ones at the top. Do they just walk in with a mic and go off the top of their head?
Anyways, was nice to see the banter between Serra and Hughes, from some other videos ive watched, Hughes looks ready man.
Hey BV, where online are we watching tonight? Justin isn’t doing it I don’t think…
Machida wins fights not with what he does but with what he doesn’t do. And what he won’t do is engage in a MMA fight, he keeps it an old fashion “point style” karate match, and since he is better than anyone else at doing this his wins come easy. He has no special talent, he just back pedals like crazy, his opponent follows and he gets his one shot in from time to time and at the end of the fight you can’t give the victory to anybody but him. He does not represent a well rounded MMA fighter, he just gets others to play his game which is point karate. Sure he wins but he is extremely boring, eventually someone will chase him down and catch him with a clean shot and it will be lights out. Tito almost choked him out and Tito is nothing special on the ground. Could you imagine what the UFC would be like if everyone fought like Machida ??? Dana would be out of business.
I can’t believe people are still doubting Rashad after all this time.This is a good thing for Rashad though as this is going to fire him up – lets just hope he gets the respect he deserves when he beats Machida.
all the regular sites have been demolished man… justin tv got whooped tonight, they are workin hard to make us all pay -
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holy crap man has Lyoto ever turned it around, 6 months ago people where trying to just figure out how to catch him and land a shot on him now no one is gonna wanna get anywhere near him. Rashad did the worst thing he could do by trying to counter punch after he got rocked, he should have just tried to tie Machida up but i guess when you get your brains rattled i guess you dont think that clear lol.
Kansas, sorry man, i always put up links but nobody comments about it or anything so i didnt know if people were even using them, thats why i didnt post anything last night.
Ya, TVU got shutdown but some Justin channels were working, you have to get in early and then they ban anyone else from entering so the feed doesnt get shut down.
I ended up watching it at your-motor.com as one of the many backups i had. It was a bit annoying though having feeds drop out at me sometimes in the middle of a fight. The good thing is after the event most people do an instant replay that shows just the fights and skips all the talking in between, so if you were out and missed the event completely you could pop on at like 1am and watch the fights. Also theres replay all day today on all kinds of sites, kind of like the 3rd time im watching the fights.